Ibiza Undead (2016)

“Cheery Knockabout Zom-Com”

Andy Edwards’ debut feature, which premiered at FrightFest last year, gets a DVD release courtesy of Soda Pictures. 

In a world already familiar with a plague of the undead, the island of Ibiza remains zombie free. It also remains a haven of music, drugs, sex and anything else that party-mad Alex, Az and Big Jim (Jordan Coulson, Homer Todiwala and Ed Kear) can get their hands on. What they don’t count on is nightclub owner Karl (Matt King) who brings zombies onto the island to use in stage routines, or that Karl’s soon to be ex-boyfriend Antonio (Seb Castang) has recently dumped a consignment into the sea by mistake. “Can zombies swim?” Karl asks. It turns out they can, and it’s the cue for the usual flesh-eating antics with a healthy dose of comedy mixed in.

IBIZA UNDEAD essentially does what it says on the tin. It is neither original nor one of the best examples of the curious sub-genre of the British zombie comedy. There’s an amateurishness to the proceedings (especially the acting) but somehow it all ends up quite endearing. Familiar faces include King from PEEPSHOW, Emily Atack from THE INBETWEENERS and Cara Theobald from DOWNTON ABBEY and while they try hard there’s the sense that this was shot in a hell of a rush - another couple of takes might have helped to make some of the scenes are bit less stilted (and with fewer dialogue trip ups). Even the aspect ratio feels misjudged - this movie doesn't need 2.35:1, it would be better off in a standard 1.85:1 to better suit the feeling of the television sitcom this so obviously wants to be.

That said, IBIZA UNDEAD is actually quite enjoyable in a kind of low-rent, extremely undemanding kind of way, and I can’t bring myself to be too hard on it. There are certainly enough laugh out loud moments (including a brief scene featuring a character called Gunther who should have been in this film a lot more) to compensate for the shakier bits.

         Soda’s DVD comes with a ten minute making of, interviews with writer-director Edwards and actress Marcia do Vales (who plays the appealingly crazy role of Maria) recorded at Frightfest, and the eighteen minute short HOUSE PARTY OF THE DEAD 6. There’s also a short collection of out-takes that play out over the end titles.

IBIZA UNDEAD is out on DVD from Soda Pictures on Monday 20th March 2017. Here's a clip: